Farmers markets: Safe and tasty

After a few hours at Framingham Farmers Market, Joe Duhamel had sold about 50 pounds of fresh meat from the beef cows he raises at Hillside Farm in Barre.

By Chris Bergeron/Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Chris Bergeron/Daily News staff

Posted Jul. 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 31, 2012 at 11:01 PM

By Chris Bergeron/Daily News staff

Posted Jul. 31, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 31, 2012 at 11:01 PM

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After a few hours at Framingham Farmers Market, Joe Duhamel had sold about 50 pounds of fresh meat from the beef cows he raises at Hillside Farm in Barre.

A retired math teacher, he’s spent most his life working the 509-acre farm his grandfather started in 1905. He sells large portions of the 25 cows he has slaughtered every year in Athol to wholesalers but has been coming to the market on Centre Common for two years to sell directly to customers.

"This is what we eat,’’ said Duhamel, motioning to the battery-operated refrigerator. "I don’t give my cows enhancements. We raise them from their own gene pool.’’

A pound of London broil costs $6, tenderloin costs $18 and liver is $4. While "the people in the MidWest’’ use steroids to boost their meat profits, Duhamel said, "Our herd eats grass from the field next to their barn.

"Anyone worried about our meat,’’ he said, "should come out and take a look.’’

Michael Barberio, of Sherborn, said he was "confident’’ about the quality of the frozen rib eye he bought and believes supporting farmers markets promotes local businesses and cleaner agricultural practices.

"Yes, I’m comfortable with the quality of what I buy here,’’ he said.

Should Barberio be confident meat and produce he buys at farmers markets is safe?

Michael Moore, director of food protection in the state Bureau of Environmental Health, said his office tracked 4,000 cases of food-borne illness last year and none came from the more than 250 farmers markets across the commonwealth.

"If farmers markets weren’t safe, you wouldn’t be seeing them in communities,’’ he said.

He explained the safety and quality of products sold at farmers markets are overseen through the state Retail Food Code and "licensed and inspected by local boards of health.’’

Moore said four kinds of products can be sold without certification in farmers markets because they are considered "low risk and can be examined from the outside.’’ They include fresh, uncut fruits and vegetables, maple syrup, unprocessed honey and farm fresh eggs which must be stored at 45 degrees Farenheit.

For other consumable products, he said vendors at farmers markets must be licensed as retail food operations and inspected by the local board of health. Whether sold to wholesalers, restaurants or in farmers markets, Moore said meat, including poultry, must be slaughtered in a federally-inspected and licensed facility and meat products must carry the inspection mark on every package that’s sold retail.

Raw milk can be sold at farms and dairies but not farmers markets. In spring 2008, the Department of Public Health began a pilot program allowing the sale of shellfish at farmers markets but the vendor must receive approval from the Division of Marine Fisheries and the DHP Food Protection Program.

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Asked whether fruits or vegetables sold at farmers markets might have been treated with harmful pesticides, Moore said state law regulates their use and requires permits for some.

"People should always ask,’’ he said. "The Food Code ensures products are as safe and healthy as possible. A good rule of thumb is to look the vendor in the eye and ask whatever you need to know.’’

Several vendors at the Framingham market said their products went more directly to customers than similar goods sold in chain markets or many grocery stores.

Peter Plaskor offered a ripe tomato to a woman checking out vegetables from a stand run by E.L. Silvia Farm, of Dighton.

"We win on freshness hands down. We pick it and we sell it. We only sell what we grow,’’ he said. "These big companies have lots of middle men. Who knows how their products are stored or treated.’’

Jeff Sabitino, of Copicut Farms in Dartmouth, told customer Annie Arbuthnot the eggs he was selling all came from chickens that were "pasture fed and free range’’ and "less than seven days old’’ compared to the weeks they might spend in storage or on the shelves of a big supermarket.

At a booth for Natick Community Organic Farm, Joan Newton and MaryGrace King were selling squash, cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, garlic, maple syrup and more. Newton displayed a Certification of Organic Production and said growers used neem oil from India as a bio-pesticide rather than commercial pesticides.

After buying 18 ears of fresh corn and some lip gloss, Barbara Melendez said food products at a farmers market "might be a little more expensive.

"I’m comfortable locally grown products are fresher and a better quality than you’ll find in major markets. I bet a lot fewer people have handled them,’’ said the Framingham resident.

Directors of several area boards of health said they were generally comfortable farmers markets sold safe products but some said heavy workloads made checking everything difficult.

Mark Oram, director of Ashland’s Board of Health, said farmers markets "are as safe as we can make them."

"I think Massachusetts is getting the best it can from the Boards of Health with the resources available,’’ he said.

Ed Wirtanen, public health administrator for Hopkinton, said while he’s never withdrawn a vendor’s certificate, customers "should still be diligent and make sure what things look like.’’

And James White, director of Natick’s Board of Health, said with the state’s approval "farmers markets have gone beyond their original intent.’’

"There’s a lot of extra work that puts a burden on local health departments. We assess each application on its merits. We give them requirements from our end and hope they comply. But there’s still a little bit of faith required.’’

"But everyone’s doing everything they can to ensure the safety of products sold at farmers markets and, so far, they’ve done a good job,’’ he said.

Cole, who operates a Sutton farm with his wife, said farmers markets are "community events that create an ambience’’ that benefits customers and vendors.

He said there are no documented cases of a food-borne illnesses originating or being spread from a farmers market in Massachusetts.

"We have proven local food is safer. At a big supermarket, the primary goal is to make a profit.

You can’t look them in the eye like you can a farmer,’’ said Cole. "At a farmers market, you’re buying from someone who produced the food and has a vested interest in keeping you alive. They’re much more likely to go the extra mile for you.’’